Farmer filling a reservoir at Kunjo Vegetables Garden, ©FAO/Amadou Bah

An estimated 23% of The Gambia’s total arable land of 117,329 hectares is suitable for horticulture production, but less than 3% (3,519.9 hectares) is currently cultivated due to a number of challenges. These include lack of good perimeter garden fencing, inadequate water supply for all year round production, inadequate  research and extension systems, lack of innovation, limited access to finance, limited access to high-end market (linkages) and inadequate support from the government. FAO, in close partnership with the Government of The Gambia and key development partners notably the European Union (EU) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF), is stepping up efforts to help sustainably address these challenges.

Through funding from the EU and GEF, FAO is providing 26 communities in the North Bank, Central River, Upper River and Lower River regions with vegetable gardens equipped with solar-powered irrigation systems and post-harvest infrastructure. Ten of these gardens are funded by GEF through the FAO project titled Adapting Agriculture to Climate Change in the Gambia while the remaining 16 have been funded by the EU; 7 under the Agriculture for Economic Growth Project and 9 under the Post-Crisis Response to Food and Nutrition Insecurity in the Gambia Project.

These multi-million Gambian Dalasis (GMD) investments are designed to help contribute towards ensuring the mass adaptation of innovative and transformative agricultural practices and thus facilitate the full and sustainable exploitation of the great potential of the horticulture sector to make the Gambian population well-nourished and healthy for national economic growth and prosperity, leaving no one behind.

The interventions will build the capacities and resilience of rural communities to enable them to unlock the untapped potential of the horticulture sector, make it more climate-smart, productive and sustainable to spur socio-economic growth.

One hundred and seventy people from 17 communities have been trained on how to maintain the solar irrigation system by Sonikara Solar Electro Sarl – one of the contractors who installed the system and connected it to the boreholes in 17 vegetable gardens.

In observance of COVID-19 health protocols, only 10 people were identified by the beneficiary communities in each of the 17 sites to participate in the trainings held onsite. Three in 5 of the participants were women and youths. This highlights the community leaders’ recognition of the role of women and youth in agriculture and the fight against poverty, hunger, malnutrition, unemployment and irregular migration in their respective communities.

The targeted beneficiary communities are very much appreciative of the huge investment made by FAO’s development partners in their respective communities. Various speakers across the 17 sites have expressed gratitude to the Government, FAO, the donors (GEF & EU) as well as the contractor for what they described as “lives changing” interventions in their communities. They have committed to jealously safeguard the investments and to utilize the facilities to contribute effectively to improve food and nutrition security, reduce imports and boost exports and foreign exchange earnings for the country.